Bulletproof
by HGF34567
Summary: What if Clove and Cato won the hunger games instead of Katniss and Peeta? The Capitol's favorite tributes have won, and for once, everything is in perfect balance. But how long can a perfect moment last? What happens when someone wants vengence? What happens when the capitol gets angry? Will things be just as perfect as they seemed? (Sorry, I suck at summaries)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- Prologue

Katniss wept beside the cold body before her, mourning the boy whose life had been taken hours before by the knife of a deadly career. At the slightest sound of footsteps, she looked up, unfortunately, into the eyes of the female tribute from district 2. The tribute sneered, smiling a wicked smile when she sees the fear in Katniss's eyes. Katniss's heart pounded within her, and slowly she rose to her feet, preparing to draw an arrow to end this cruel girl's life.

The girls eyed each other, each one waiting to make their move. Katniss's grey eyes bored into the girl's green ones as each of them prepared their weapons for battle. All of a sudden, a larger figure appeared out of the shadows of the night, his sword gleaming in the night. Katniss almost dropped her bow when she saw the boy appear almost out of no where, knowing that this was her end.

The two careers looked at each other, silently discussing their battle strategy within two glances at each other. Without another word, the girl with the green eyes lunged at Katniss, tackling her and pinning her to the ground. She held her knife above her heart as Katniss screamed in fear. She had lost all hope - and maybe all sanity- when Peeta died, and this was the apparent display of that. The girl looked to her teammate for an approval, deciding on whether to take all the fun or let her best friend do it for her.

"She's all yours." The boy said.

The girl raised her knife and plunged it back down into Katniss's heart again and again, stabbing her multiple times for everything Katniss had done to the girl, this girl whose only hope now was to make it out of the hunger games with her best friend alongside her. Once the job was done, she left the knife in her heart only to grab another one. With her other, sharpest knife, she slit her throat, only out of a Career's arrogance if nothing else.

The cannon sounded. It was done, it was over. The girl and the boy flung themselves into each others' arms, just as the trumpets sounded and the hovercraft arrived to pick them up. For one, perfect moment in the Capitol, everything was perfect; The two tributes had won, and could be together, and the capitol had gotten what they wanted, their favorite tributes had won.

But perfect moments could only last so long.

**Please read and review, tell me what you thought. And please check out my other fanfic, Fragments, you all might like that one. Anyway, see you next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! Thanks for reading my first chapter, glad you made it this far :) Please read and review. Enjoy!**

Clove's POV

I take a seat on the cold stone steps leading to the inside of my house and sigh heavily. I wrap my arms around myself to keep warm, watching my breath come out in little puffs of air, like I'm a train. Well, a train on it's way to no where.

I see shadows move along the corner and instantly jump into battle mode, the same way I did every time something even dared to breath in the games. Mentally smacking myself,I try and calm down as I reposition myself on the stairs. _This isn't the games anymore, Clove. Get a grip. _I tell myself, annoyed with my own stupidity. Out of no where, as he did in the games, Cato comes along and sits beside me.

"Hey, you." He says, trying to force a smile. I nod a hello, my gaze dropping to the ground. Ever since we left the capitol, things have been really awkward between us. I don't know if it was our one kiss, or the fact that we had the other careers totally convinced we were dating, or just the fact that we both really like each other, but know it would totally screw up everything if we even mentioned it. In times like these, where the capitol was completely pleased, and everything was going a little too right, you'd think we'd be happy enough to let everything go and just start dating. But that wasn't going to happen. At least not for a long, long time.

I play with the hem of my jacket and try to fill the silence between us. "So, um, are you ready for the victory tour?" I ask nonchalantly. Cato shrugs. "I don't know. I guess." He says. I nod in agreement and lean my head against his shoulder.

I guess you thought since we were careers and all, winning would be the most important thing in our lives. Well you thought wrong. Well, at least you were wrong about me, Cato has been living the time of his life. Me, on the other hand, despite what you've heard about me, I'm not that much of what these people call, 'career material'. I wasn't the most popular girl in school, I wasn't the teacher's pet, and I didn't have tons of friends. Like most people my age, I merely existed. Well, that was before I won the hunger games. Now it's like I'm a legend. Not that it was the way I wanted it. If I had it my way, then I never would have gone into those stupid games in the first place.

I guess you might be pretty dissapointed to find out that I'm really not what you expected me to be. Well, I wouldn't blame you. I would certainly rather be the girl everyone thinks I am...

"Clove? Are you alright?" Cato asks, snapping me out of my thoughts. I jump back a little as my reflexes threaten to kick in. I hate the hunger games, they made me so...fragile, if that's the way to describe it. It's like, every time I hear the slightest of noises, I have to jump up and be ready for a battle, even though there NEVER is one. It just majorly sucks that things had to be like this, that I was forever changed by the games. I wish I had never even been in them.

"Oh! I mean, yeah, I'm alright. Just a little worried about the tour." I lie. Even if Cato IS my best friend, I just can't admit to him that the whole thing means nothing to me. The hunger games became his life by the time he turned twelve, and who am I to ruin that for him? You may be shocked to know this, but in many ways, Cato and I are very different. Just look at me, then take one look at him; he was so popular at school, on the football team, and everyone loved him. I was just some weirdo who had become this legend after she won the games. And that's another thing I hate about the games : they made people like me for all the wrong reasons.

"Alright you two, let's go!" My mentor Enobaria says, popping up out of absoulutely no where. Startled, I jump to my feel (as one of my post-hunger games reflexes) and prepare for a fight. Enobaria laughs. "She's an excited one alright! It's time to board the train, lovebirds." I roll my eyes at the nick name. If it weren't for Katniss and Peeta (the girl on fire and loverboy) Cato and I would have had to been the couple of the games. I mean, come on, every mentor has an angle for their tributes, and if we weren't careers, we would have been "the star crossed lovers from district 2." Let's face it, if you're not a career, you basically don't really have an angle. Which sucked for the other districts.

The next thing I know, we're boarding the train and I am settling down into a plush leather sofa. I lean back against the soft material and sigh as a killer headache starts. Lately, this has been happening a lot. During the games, I got a head injury from the tribute from 11, but luckily, I somehow managed to survive that. After all, when you're the capitol's favorite tribute, you manage to evade everything.

_I throw my knife, which lands straight in the tribute's temple, blood flowing from the spot. I take a deep breath. The blood bath is over, everything will be all right now. All I have to do is make a few more kills, squeeze through a few more tight situations, and I'm out of this place, for good._

_Cato appears beside me, cleaning blood off of his sword and smiling at his work. The other careers follow quickly behind, doing the same as Cato. They all high five while I just stare at the carnage before me, somehow amazed that I was able to do all this. It was just so unbelievable. Look how far I had gotten!_

_I turn around so I can lead the careers to a place to settle down when someone places a hand over my mouth and a knife to my throat. I stifle a scream and calmly reach for my largest knife in it's place on my jacket, discovering that it isn't there. Panic runs through me as I become paralyzed and unable to move. "You really think you can just get away like this, murdering all these innocent people?" The dark, deep voice says. My ability to speak returns as if the oxygen that was released from my lungs is put back in an instant. "This is the hunger games. That's kind of the object of the game." I say, trying not to sound scared._

_"You won't get away with killing my friends." _

_My neck is snapped and the world goes black._

I wake up gasping for air and covered in a cold sweat. I steady my breathing, telling myself, _it's only a dream, just a stupid trick of the mind. _ But little did I know that it was a nightmare that would come true soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Thanks for reading! I know the chapters have been short but they'll get longer, I promise. Please read and review. Enjoy!**

Clove's POV

My short black dress suddenly feels a lot tighter on me when I walk up onto the stage alongside Cato, who is dressed in a deep green suit (that looks amazing on him) and who also stands beside me in confidence, not the slightest sign of worry ruining his calm expression. "Come on, let's hear that speech you wrote. It's only stage fright." he whispers to me, pushing my dark brown curled hair out of my eyes. I take a deep breath and pull out my notecards. "You first." I mumble, listening to him anyway.

We're in district one, on the victory tour of course, and Cato's making me do the stupid speech for this district. Usually, I would be...a little less worried about this kind of thing, but with district one, it feels wrong. I mean, I hated Glimmer, and even though I had an almost thing with Marvel, those things make it difficult to speak about them. It's like talking at the wedding of your arch nemesis and ex boyfriend. Now imagine that.

With shaky hands, I grab my cards and start the speech. "Hello, everyone. First of all, I would like to comment on how extremely...lavish, this district is," I say, pausing a minute to get things in my mind together. "Anyway, Glimmer and Marvel were two of the strongest, most confident tributes we had ever seen. Glimmer-" I look at Glimmer's family-"was unique, she was so different than any other girls I know. She was someone truly interesting to be around." I state honestly. I turn to Marvel's family. "Marvel was really skilled, and really clever. He had something you don't see often in the games- self control. Anyway, I thank you all for your time, and we'd love to thank the capitol for such an amazing opportunity-"

All of a sudden, a fire catches from no where, starts in the middle of the square and blooms, spreading wider, making the people scatter. The sound of glass breaking makes me jump and turn around to see the windows of the justice building shattered. Cato grabs my hand, and leads me off the stage and away from the square. Just as we turn to run away, the justice building explodes, sending pieces of brick and stone everywhere. Screams sound in all directions as more explosions take place. The smell of things burning wafts all around, the most horrid smell being that of human skin. "What the-" I start to say.

An explosion errupts from directly underneath Cato and I and we fly backward, into the flames of the fire.

**Meanwhile...**

The teen puts the gun down, unable to shoot at the target. She looks down at the cold metal pistol, thinking, _Is this really the answer? Have the games driven us all mad? _ She shakes her head. She was still sane, at least for now, even if she had never been in the games. Although, she'd certainly had the opportunity. She picked up her gun and signaled to the leader, asking if it was OK to fire. The leader nodded, looking through the scope of her gun.

The target was alone, up nestled in her room, bundled up in the blankets like a cocoon. Guilt took over as the teen put her finger on the trigger, ready to fire. How could she do something like this? Revenge wasn't always the answer, but in this case, it had to be. If she ever wanted to avenge the people she'd lost, someone else had to lose something, too. She pulled the trigger and the bullet went straight through the girl's head. The teen shrieked as blood splattered on the bedroom wall. The leader slapped a gloved hand over her mouth and brought a finger to his lips. Then he signaled that it was time to move on to the next target.

They traveled to the lower levels, the leader handing the small teen a sniper. The girl raised an eyebrow. "It makes it easier to aim." The leader mouthed. "I'm not sure I want to do this again." The girl replied. The leader put a hand on her shoulder. "We can go home, if you want. I know that this wasn't your first choice in avenging your family." The leader said. The girl shook her head, mouthing, "No, I have to do this for her, no matter what it costs." The leader nodded and gestured for them to go on.

As they took out the next two targets, the girl repeated in her head again and again, _this is for her, it's just for her, you're not a murderer. _ Unfortunately, the girl had no luck in convincing herself that she still had some innocence, some beacon of hope to life off of after this. At least it would all be worth it when they took out the tributes from district 2.

**Back in district 1...**

I wince, drawing back in pain as I first feel the flames among me. I jump to my feet instantly and stop the flames on me from getting any bigger. I desperately reach out to Cato, who knocked out when his head hit the hard concrete of the square. Grabbing his arm, I pull him up, away from a place where luckily the flames did not touch, and try and hoist him over my shoulder. I manage to sling his arm over my shoulder and prop him up on my back. I'm not very strong to begin with, so can you imagine how less strong I am when I'm burnt? Even with my skills in weaponry, advanced survival skills, and my slightly elevated capacity to take a kicking, I was still a victim to fire. I try and piece together what's happening while dragging Cato away from the square. Another explosion rocks the earth and creates a large crack in the concrete. I cry out in pain when a piece of rock flies out and hits my worst burn.

All of a sudden, a hovercraft appears out of thin air and comes down. "Hurry, get inside!" Someone shouts at us. I pull Cato along and into the hovercraft so he can be treated. Enobaria and Brutus greet us inside as medics wheel my best friend away. I start to run after him but Enobaria puts a hand on my shoulder. "Not now." She says. Breathless and suddenly tired, I ask, "What is this? What's going on?"

She frowns. "Someone in the districts isn't very happy with your triumph, and they want revenge, as of NOW."

"On me and Cato?"

"You both are wanted dead."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

(A/N: Hey guys. I know I haven't updated in a few days, and I'm sorry. I'll start updating sooner, promise. Please read, review, and enjoy!)

Clove's POV

_1 week later..._

_"Seeing that the events in District one were no more than public stunts, meant to scare us, nobody should be worried, or frightened; there is no need. I suggest that we put this little stunt behind us, in our past, and continue on with life as it was before. Again, I repeat, do not be frightened, and carry on."_

I click off the T.V. and sigh. _The president can't keep lying to this nation, _I think, _nobody is safe and everybody should be scared. _ Ever since the bombings, and our mentor's sudden announcement that everyone wants to kill us, things have been a little out of hand. I mean, if someone bombed YOUR home, and wanted two of YOUR people assassinated in the worst ways, wouldn't you be just a tad freaked out? This event was scary, after all. For a quiet nation that lives in fear of acting out, this was HUGE. Well, I guess you could guess that much.

Cato and I have been living in the capitol for the week, in case anything happens again, though I seriously doubt they will. With the bombers heads wanted on freaking sticks, I don't think anyone else will be brave enough to try and do that again. Sure, they still hadn't caught the rebels (as weird as it feels to use that word...) but when they did...I don't want to think about what horrible things would occur.

District one is quietly rebuilding their district. Not much damage was done to it, not counting the justice building and their entire town square. The people, on the other hand, are almost going insane with fear. Would you do anything differently, if your home was just bombed, and at any time now you could be killed by two crazy people, out for blood? That's what I thought.

Cato grunts and sits up, awaking from his nap on the sofa across from me.I smile slightly. "Have a nice nap?" I say, trying to make conversation. He shrugs. "Yea, I guess." He replies casually. We sit in silence for a moment, not knowing what words to say. "So um...how are you, Clove?" he asks, genuinely meaning it. I'm at a loss for words. Honestly, there's really no words that describe how I feel. How can you describe the feelings you get when you're wanted dead? There's really no way to say it.

"I don't know." I state. He nods, and I say, "And you?" He shrugs again. "I don't know either." he says. More silence fills the air, making this more uncomfortable then it needs to be. I clear my throat and stand up, waving my arms a bit. "Well, I-"

Enobaria rushes in, looking tired and scared at the same time. It's usually not a good combination, especially on Enobaria. She may look tough (and act like it) but really, she's...actually like any woman you might meet on the street; busy, tired, stressed. I like seeing the real Enobaria, the one that isn't a crazed assassin. I wish people could say the same about me, everyone seems to like the murderous version of me better. I don't blame them though, I don't really like the real me either.

"I've got to ask you guys something." She says. I nod, shoving my hands in my pockets nervously. "Yea?" Cato and I ask. She looks at us questioningly. "Which tribute were you guys after the most, in the games?" she asks. This one won't take any thinking at all; I know Cato and I are both thinking of the same thing. "Katniss." we say in unison. Enobaria nods. "And if you killed her, who'd you be after next?"

That question takes a bit of thinking. Cato and I look at each other, asking the same thing, _who was it?_ Katniss was kind of our main priority; that ruled our minds during the games. "Peeta, I guess." Cato says after a long period of silence. Enobaria nods. "Ok. With that said, we can assume the people that are after you are either..." she trails off, looking to a little notepad for help. "The people that are after you are either in district 12, or traitors in the capitol. It could be either one, you never know." I nod. It didn't make it easier, knowing where these people were from. Somehow, it made it worse; it felt like the closer we got to finding out who they were, the more they wanted us dead.

It wasn't a pretty thought.

_Meanwhile..._

The girl climbed out her bedroom window and landed on the soft grass before her. She pushed waves of hair out of her face and fastened on her mask, the one covering her whole face. The missions were dangerous, and would be even more dangerous if even one little facial feature was seen or recognized. The girl made her way over to the woods, to meet the leader so that they could commit act 2, the second crime. The girl felt terrible; it wasn't like her to go around slaughtering people, but she'd do what she had to do to avenge the death of the one person she looked up to.

Climbing under the inactive fence, the girl yelped a little, shrieking as an animal hopped by her toes, which were snug in practical combat boots. She made her way past the clearing, to the clusters of tall trees in which she knew her leader might be hiding in. Passing through tall, winding grasses, she finally made her way to the meeting spot. When the girl got there, she had found her gun exactly where she left it, but something new was waiting for her: a new teammate. The girl uneasily loaded her pistol (she wasn't used to the gun and didn't like using it, she had to remind herself that this was all for a good cause every time she pulled the trigger) and looked across her at her new teammate.

The boy looked her age, maybe a year more, yet slightly taller and the look of innocence gone from his young face. Innocence isn't something you keep for a long time, living in district 12, but maybe, with the help of the team, things would change. The boys' slate grey eyes looked at her with a cold and calculating glare, and the girl almost had second thoughts about meeting up and having this boy as her teammate. Just then, when the girl was turned to leave, the leader arrived. "Glad you both could make it," he greeted, his voice only a couple notches above a whisper. Getting caught would be too much at this point, talking above a whisper wouldn't help that case much. The girl was living in fear at this point, 'what if they found out who I am?' was always a question she asked, even though no one guessed, or rather thought of, the rebel's true identities. The leader gestured toward the new boy.

"This, is R." He introduced. The girl reluctantly accepted the boy's handshake, wary and a little frightened of this cold looking boy who couldn't be more than 15. The girl nodded. "R, we call her, mockingjay." the leader said. The boy nodded. "Cool name, named after those singing birds, right?" he asked, his voiced rough and sounding dry. The girl nodded, not wanting to reveal her sweet, young, voice. The leader clapped his hands together. "Ready for act 2?" he asked. The boy and girl nodded. The leader handed the boy a gun and a mask. "You'll need them."

R looked taken aback. "You didn't say we'd be killing people!" he exclaimed. The leader sighed. "You should have figured, R. We're rebels. How else are we supposed to take out our targets? Give them candy and hope they choke on it?" he joked. R frowned. "I-i can't." The girl's fears suddenly kicked in, the fear of being caught and killed- or worse, her family being caught and killed- kicked in. If R left now, who knows what he could tell people? He might even tell peacekeepers if they paid him.

She pointed her gun at his head, hoping she wouldn't have to pull the trigger. "You're in, or you're dead. You know too much to go back now." she said, her voice shaky, not wanting to kill R. But if it had to be done, it had to be done.

"F-fine. I'm in." The boy stuttered. The girl put her gun down and placed it back in it's pouch on her belt.

"Then let's go kick some ass."

_Back in the capitol..._

"I'm telling you, we can't just go home! That's probably where the bombers are hiding!" I argue with Cato. For the past half hour, all he's been talking about is going home, saying that he's gonna hop on the next train home the next chance he gets. I keep trying to tell him that it's pointless, that there's hope, but to no avail.

"We can take anybody on, Clove! You're not as fragile as you think you are! If anyone attacked, we'd be fine! We're careers after all!" He shouts. I scoff in disagreement. "NO, YOU"RE a career! In case you haven't noticed, I'm not like you! I'm not a victor! I'm only human! I'm. !" I scream. The next thing I know, he's walking out, slamming the door in my face as tears stream down my cheeks. "FINE!" I yell. My voice cracks and a sob releases from my throat. I slump down to the floor as I cry, and I don't even know why. I know he can handle things, why am I so worried? He IS Cato after all...

I brush away all my thoughts of worry, wipe away my tears,and ask the avoxes if I can use the phone. They nod, and I uneasily dialing my mom's number, wishing for a sense, if not voice, of home. It rings a couple of times, no one answering. That's strange, they're usually home right now. I dial again, and finally, someone picks up.

_"Hello?" _The unfamiliar voice says.

"Um, this is Clove I'm wondering if either of my parents, Mina or Jake were there?"

_"I'm sorry, they're at a funeral right now." the person says._

_Funeral? _I wonder. "Um...who's funeral, might I ask?"

_"Their other daughter, Jade."_

I drop the phone, another cry escaping me.

My sister's dead.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

(A/N: hey guys! I know its been a little while since I updated, its just I can't write as much as I used to. But I will try to post at least 2 or 3 new chapters every week. Anyway, enjoy!)

Clove's POV

"_You really think you would get this far along without dying?" the condescending voice says from behind me. I turn around on my heel, trying to face the person, but they shift quickly and are behind me once again. My heart race picks up and my eyes widen. "W-what do you want?" I stutter, my eyes focused on my knife on the ground beside the shining cornucopia. I reach out to the knife but it only flies farther away. The person laughs, a cold and menacing sound that will haunt me forever. "Careers aren't so tough without their weapons, are they Clove?" the person asks with the same tone you would use on a child. _

"_Maybe n-not." I reply, the matter becoming more of a game with my playful, worried tone. The person laughs again. "Wanna see?" comes the menacing taunt. I shake my head. "Just leave me alone!" I exclaim with fright, which is answered with another laugh. "Oh, Clove…" the person teases, a cold hand brushing my hair away from my neck. My enemy chuckles slightly to themself, enjoying my increasing terror. "How little you know about the hunger games…" the person continues. A knife is placed against my throat and I muster up all my bravery to say, "Go ahead. Kill me."_

_What I say is greeted with a cold glare, my opponent finally turning to face me. I find myself staring into lifeless, almost white, pale colored eyes. The person, who I've now discovered to be female, laughs, the voice not as scary now that I see the young, sweet looking face. She smiles sweetly at me, so sickly sweet that I want to throw up. "We won't kill you, Clove. We'll kill your sister." the taunting, chilling reply comes. _

_Almost out of nowhere my sister comes out from the trees, being dragged by the hair to where I stand. "Jade!" I screech. Jade shakes her head as she's put down and forced to stand, a knife held to her throat. "Please, she's only thirteen!" I shout in fear and anger, trying to fight against my young, haunting enemy. She laughs, pressing the knife harder into my throat. "Now, now Clove, you don't think we know that?" she says with a sweet looking expression that I know is fake. "That's why we'll make her death quick…"_

_Before I can react, there's a gun to Jade's head and a bullet shoots through her skull. I scream as her blood splatters onto the ground, dripping down the side of her head. My cruel enemy smiles a real smile at me. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" she teases. I fight her, but to no avail. "Whoops, almost forgot about you,silly!" she chirps. She pulls the knife against my throat and slits my throat. Blood spills down by body, soaking me in minutes, although I don't die. Pain shoots through my whole body and I try to scream, only to have brought myself to more suffering. The last thing I see is the girl's face, smiling down at me as I drown in my own blood…_

I awake suddenly, finding myself wrapped in Cato's strong arms. I look around, expecting to see the girl from my nightmare but find only my training center apartment. He smiles once he notices that I'm awake. "Hey you." He says, his voice calm and comforting. I happily lean against him. "Hey." comes my soft reply. He smiles at me. All of a sudden I bolt up and stand beside the bed, realizing what was happening. He raises an eyebrow. "Is everything Ok?" he asks. Hesitantly, I nod. "Yeah…" I trail off. Something just felt too...right…it's like I was MEANT to be in his arms. That sounds stupid, I know, but that's just the way it felt, it's the only way to describe it. I hate to get all sappy on you, but...whatever, never mind. Just...forget that. It's between us.

"I-I'm uh…. gonna just um...get to bed…" I fill the awkward silence, trying not to look at Cato, who I've just realized is shirtless… More silence follows until he finally says, "Well, you were just passed out and I put you in your room but I think you were having a nightmare so.." he trails off, seeming tired of the conversation. Well, I guess I can be glad about that, because I'm tired of it too. "Um thanks..Goodnight." I say, backing out of the bedroom quickly. I walk across the hall to my room, and try to close my eyes once I hit the soft, fluffy, capitol made,'handcrafted' mattress. I eventually drift into a dreamless sleep…

**Meanwhile...**

The girl puts her gun down and tries to steady her breathing. Her long hair whips against her face in the wind and dust blows in the air, getting in the team members eyes and blocking their vision. At a signal, they all put on their goggles and continued with act 2. R turned toward the girl, his grey eyes meeting her blue ones. "The leader says its time to move on, theres no more targets here." He whispered to her. For a minute she let her eyes focus on his, letting the rest of the world go for a minute. Getting a hold on herself, she turned her head away so that she could focus on her mission again.

Moving down so she could crouch beneath the thick bushes, she bent down to her knees and crawled along the cobblestone path. They all moved in a straight line, not breaking formation, as if they were trained soldiers rather than a couple of kids who went out and decided to avenge the deaths of those they loved with slaughter. Well, what else could they do? It wasn't as if they were allowed to have more than a simple memorial service to remember them by, or were allowed to even visit their graves. For these few to be able to fully get through the death of their family members, they were not only going to have to pull themselves together and just simply forget them in order to keep from going crazy- they were going to avenge them.

They moved quickly, making from one house to another swiftly and managing at least three targets in five minutes. It was an amazing rate for them, when compared to when they first started.

It had all started when the leader met up with the girl one day in the woods outside of district 12. They were only going there to hunt, of course, as the girl had learned she would have to do this, but like any other great team, it was quite unexpected for this whole thing to start.

_The girl climbed under the fence, which was always inactive, hesitantly. As much as she knew she needed food, and quickly, she didn't want to do it - she'd never liked the woods, all the ferocious animals and unknown dangers lurking around. Then, she thought of her family, and what the one she'd lost would've wanted her to do, and started hiking further down into the dense forest. At last she saw the boy, sitting amongst the blackberry bushes, and slung the bow off her shoulder so that they could hunt. "Hey, you told me you'd teach me how to hunt…" she had said. The boy stayed sitting. "Just a minute, hang on a second." he replied without looking at her._

_He was staring out at the place between the mountains, wondering what was beyond those lush green hills. The girl settled down beside him. "It's pretty." she said, filling the air. He just nodded. "What do you think is out there?" he asks. The girl rolled her eyes. "The capitol, duh." she replied. The boy, at once, turned to face her. "I mean, what's beyond those green hills, past all the districts and the capitol? What if there's something more out there that they don't want us to know about?"The girl shrugged. "I don't know…"_

_The boy sighed. "She was always wondering that, you know?"_

_The girl nodded. "Yeah, I know." she replied. For a moment they sat in uncomfortable silence, thinking about the girl they had both lost. _

"_What if we found out for her?" The young girl suggested. The boy looked at her, hope in his wide grey eyes. "You really want to?" he asked. She nodded, a smile breaking out on her pale face. "Yeah." Her eyes lit up as another idea flashed through her mind. "And...And what if we killed the people who did that to her?" She was greeted with silence. She was such a sweet, innocent, young little girl, and the boy was wondering what had gotten into her to suggest something like that. Although, despite his confusion towards the young girl...he kind of thought it was a reasonable form of punishment. "If you're really serious about it, and if you think that's something you could do…"_

_She nodded with a hard look in her eyes. "Of course I can. I'm not the same little girl anymore. Seeing her die like that...it just...broke me. I'd do anything because of what they did to her." she replied. The boy turned away. "It's crazy but...OK. sure."_

_And so they spent the rest of the morning planning it all out, assuming their targets, and making sure they wouldn't get caught. For once, the girl and the boy felt they had power over the capitol, and that they could do anything._

_It was time to take action._

**Back in the capitol…**

Cato's POV

_The next day…_

I load my plate with tons of breakfast and sit down across from Enobaria at the table, next to Brutus. "So what's our plan?" I burst out saying. Clove, seeming confused, still keeps her eyes on her almost empty plate despite my question. Enobaria slurps down a sip of hot cocoa and looks at me with a raised eyebrow. "Our plan for what, Cato?" she asks. I roll my eyes. God, have I been the ONLY one thinking about our battle strategy against the rebels, the ones that killed Clove's sister and are out to get us? "To get the rebels…" I explain with a sigh. Clove looks up at me. "What do you WANT us to do, Cato? It's not like we know who they are or where they are, or even what district they're from, even with Enobaria thinking that they're from 12. They could just be tricking us or something. C'mon Cato, don't get ahead of yourself here." she says, a bit of annoyance in her voice.

I sigh once again. "It was just a suggestion, Clove." I state simply. She looks at me with a deadly look in her eyes. I love that look on her, somehow, even when the hate is directed towards me. That look just makes me feel like she's a dangerous, bright flame, about to burn me up. God, that sounded corny. It's what I mean, though. Angry, she replies, "Do ALL of your suggestions have to do with killing people?!" she demands. I look her in the eyes, now angry at her stupid comment. It's not like I enjoy killing...I just….do. I'm a career after all. Sometimes, with the way Clove says things like this, it makes me feel like she should be from district 12 instead of district 2.

"Look I didn't say-"

Clove jumps up from her seat. "YOU DIDN'T SAY WHAT?!" she yells. I look at her with a soft expression, trying to calm her. Clove has an EXPLOSIVE temper, which I can only sometimes control. Like I said before, she's like a flame, calm and pretty until you start feeding the fire, and it gets bigger and more dangerous, until you're surrounded by flames and have no choice but to burn. Say one thing that Clove doesn't like, and you're gonna get burnt. Clove is the _real _girl on fire, the flame of the games. As messed up as it sounds, I love her fiery temper, her bursts of anger. Makes her seem like a real career.

"Clove, look, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you angry, God!" I shout back. Enobaria and Brutus try to come in between us, but it's no use. When we start arguing, we don't stop until there's a winner. "YOU'RE JUST SO VIOLENT! DOES A DAY EVER GO BY IN YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU DON'T PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK FOR BEING SUCH A GREAT CAREER?!" she replies, venom in her usually soft tone. Enobaria tries to pull her back, into another room, but she fights her and breaks out of her grip. Clove's comment angered me. I hate it when she accuses me of being this violent, stupid, block of meat. Sure, I'm violent, and maybe a little hot headed,(or a lot), but I'm more than what she thinks I am. It makes me so mad.

"GOD, now we're on this subject again!" I yell at her.

She screams in frustration. "JUST FORGET IT!" she screams, walking into her room and slamming the door. I sigh heavily and slink back down into my chair, shoving my plate off the table, watching it shatter into a million pieces. I throw my cup of juice onto the floor, angrier now that she won't even talk to me about it. I just hate it when we fight, she always gets all hurt and defensive. She's so sensitive, it's jjust- Argh…You know what's sick, though?

It's sick that all these battles between me and her are what keeps me satisfied.

(A/N: I know it's been a week, and I'm sorry! I'll upload sooner now, I swear, it's just...I've been busy, that's all. BTW, the song I listened to while writing this chapter is called _Love the way you lie, _by Skylar Grey. I was listening to it while writing the fight between Cato and Clove in this ch, and I think it really describes their relationship PERFECTLY. Listen to it, when you get the chance, it's perfect for them. Anyway, see you next chapter.)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A/N: Hey everyone! I feel really bad about not updating in a while, I'm just working on a special chapter for my other chapter, Fragments, for one of my reader's birthday's. It's gonna be huge, so I wanted it to be special. Anyway, please review and read. Enjoy the chapter!

Clove's POV

_Dear Journal,_

_ANOTHER BIG BLOWOUT WITH CATO, it's been the third one this week! You'd think that with everything that's going on, we'd be closer than ever, but NO, it's only driven us apart more because we have different ideas on how to handle it. Basically, he wants war, and I DON'T. I mean, how hard is it to just find the rebels, arrest them, and get it over with? Not that hard is it? I never said it was easy, either…_

_Anyway, looks like we get to go home this week. Yipee...I just can't wait to visit the home of my dead sister and depressed parents. Sounds like fun...PLUS, as a special added bonus, I get to start making battle strategy plans for the capitol because of the rebels, since I'm 'one of the best victors, surely a competitor that would fight happily alongside the capitol' (in the words of our lovely president). So, now that I'm a victor, I get to start helping the capitol with all of this, most victors never get this opportunity. Usually only the careers, mainly from districts two and four, get to be a part of this 'special' group. I really didn't want to be in, but lucky for me, Cato just HAD to say I would do whatever it took to help kill the rebels. I don't want to kill anybody. I had enough of that during the games. _

_So, anyway, you may be wondering (no you're not, you're just a journal), why am I keeping a journal anyway? Well, Enobaria and Brutus have noticed how hostile Cato and I have been towards each other lately, and well, they said we would have to take out all our feelings in these stupid books- no offence. Honestly, I'm just as angry as I was before. Although, I have been coming up with an excuse to be late to battle strategy planning meetings ('sorry, I was writing in my journal like Enobaria suggested, Mr. President')._

_Speaking of Enobaria and Brutus, they've been acting really weird lately, like they have something to hide. They're gone between 8-8 everyday, supposedly 'just touring around the capitol'. As if. That's about as likely as me being a real career, just like Cato had said. Or wrote, I think, as I read in his journal. Here's something he wrote about me._

"_Clove, man , she's a tricky subject these days. She's just so...fragile…? I don't know how to put it, but the slightest little thing sets her off. She's so fiery. Wow, that sounded so weird. I like the fiery side of her, but I miss her sweet side, the one she'd only let me see. But now, it's like she's all grown up, a real career, and I don't like it one bit. She was so...innocent. Well, that was a weird way to put it…"_

_That's what he has to say about me? Wow, how sweet._

_I have to stop writing now. I can't skip this battle strategy meeting. Later for now, journal._

_CLOVE_

**At the meeting…**

"What do you mean we're not going to kill them?! We can't just let them get away like this!" Cato's voice boomed as he discovers he's been outvoted on the decision of killing the new group of rebels that has formed. "Who knows how many of them there are? They just might kill us if…" he trails off, defeated. "We can't bomb an entire district just because of three rebels!" I reply to his stupid suggestion. He scowls, and the venom in his look shoots through me painfully, and I don't know why. It's not like I'm not used to our fights by now, just...that one hurt. Bad.

"What if the entire district is in on it?" he suggests. The well-kept silence in the room (until now) fades as everyone argues. "A place like district twelve?!" Brutus laughs. "As if!" he continues. I stay silent as I have for mostly the whole meeting. I don't know whether to argue, or agree, or just keep my mouth shut. Well, Cato COULD be right, but Brutus just sounds more right. District 12, a rebellion? Yeah, right.

"Well Cato, you gotta think about what Brutus said. I mean, think about it. They're all poor, pathetic little people who're too scared to even dare to think about a rebellion. Do you really believe they're responsible for, what, six, ten, deaths?" Enobaria argues. Great, another side for me to take. Cato starts yelling. "THE DAMN DISTRICT HAS BEEN QUIET FOR YEARS, OR AT LEAST THATS WHAT YOU THINK! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE UP TO BECAUSE THE CAPITOL HAS BEEN IGNORING THEM FOR SO DAMN LONG! THEY COULD BE IN THE CAPITOL AT THIS VERY MOMENT AT THIS RATE!"

Everyone looks shocked. I just roll my eyes. To me, this is just typical Cato. To everyone else, this is scary and new.

The leader of the meeting, Seneca Crane, this year's gamemaker, holds up one hand to silence the arguing crowd. "Meeting dismissed." he finally sighs when he realizes that it's no use trying to calm Cato. Relieved, I push my seat in and start to head for the door. Cato follows close behind as I try and hurry back to the training center apartment for the last time. Tommorow we leave to go back home. There's no victory tour this year, the president decided that. Oh well, I had said to him, what a bummer. I feel Cato grab my arm, his warm fingers clasping around my skinny arm.

"What is it this time?" I say, annoyed. He looks at me with a strange look in his eyes. "C'mon Clove. Let me talk to you a minute." he pleads. I shake my head, giving in to the look in his eyes that I can't seem to resist. "Fine." I say, crossing my arms. "Talk." He looks at me in the eyes again, with a begging look, and somehow I know he's going to ask me for something. Come on, why else would he use such a sweet tone, a pleading look, and stop me when he's this mad at me? Cato isn't the sweet type, so whenever he's being nice out of the blue, you know he wants something. "Let's go somewhere...a little more...secret."

Before I can even think to ask what he wants, he's dragging me up flights of stairs I didn't know existed. Soon we reach a place that look like it's spack on top of the building. We're surrounded by open air. The smell of flowers is in the air, wafting in the wind. I can hear distant wind chimes clinking in the distance. There's a slight chill out here, under dozens of brilliant stars. It looks like a rooftop garden, probably because it is. I'm an idiot sometimes, how did I not know about this 'secret garden'? Peeta, a.k.a., loverboy, was up here every night, until he finally took the girl on fire up here and they kissed or something. There's a lot of things you can hear from the second floor.

Cato leads us over to a place that's pretty secluded, hidden by rose bushes. We settle in between the thorny bushes and I wait for him to start doing some begging. "Well," I say after a couple of moments pass in silence, "Get on with it already." He clears his throat, looks around, as if he suspected that we were followed, or something, and finally starts talking. "I want to start a rebellion."

I almost die of laughter after he makes that comment. "W-what?" I ask, laughing hard. Ha! Did I mishear what he said? REBELLION? What? "I want to start a rebellion." he repeats. I laugh harder. "Against who?" I ask, sounding stupid having asked that. Cato scowls. "The capitol, damn it." he replies, getting annoyed. Ha, ha, ha. Rebellion! What a stupid idea! "Not to rain on your parade or anything, but how do you expect to do that? And WHY?" I ask. He shakes his head and starts to walk away. "Really, why do you want a rebellion against the capitol?" I ask, grasping his wrist so he can't walk away. He ignores me.

"Forget it, Clove." He dismisses me. He breaks free of my grasp and walks away back towards the flight of stairs. "Cato wait!" I cry, following him down the flights of stairs. "Cato, get back here!" He continues to walk down the stairs, as if I'm not even saying anything.

"CATO!" I scream, just like I screamed in the games when I needed Cato's help. Something in him snaps, and his eyes reflect pain, anger, and regret all at the same time, just as they always did in the games. "No…" I mutter to myself. Whatever I did trigger some bad memory in Cato's mind, and now the only thing I've done is made him angrier. All I do is mess things up for him. Or in anybody's life…like my sister's...and my mom's… "CLOVE!" he replies. He runs straight towards me and slams me against the wall, hard. I try and shove him off of me but he's too strong. What's going on? What the hell did I do?

"What did you do with her?!" he demands. I raise an eyebrow at him. "Who?" I ask, realizing he means 's all just a joke, isn't it? All because I made fun of his rebellion thing. Wow, Ok, fine then. How nice of him."Oh...Well, that was a lovely reenactment of the games, but show's over, Cato, let's go." I say. He only tightens his grip on me, placing his fingers around my throat tightly. TOO tightly. "Ok...not...funny...anymore…" I gasp, taking deep doesn't release his grip even once he sees that I can't breathe. What kind of sick game is he playing? Whatever it is, I don't like it.

"Cato..c-come on...not...funny...can't..breathe...LET...GO…!" I gasp, my voice getting louder as I desperately try and fight him off. I may be able to fight off an average tribute, but with some one of Cato's size...I'm gonna die. He's gonna kill me! WHY?! "Why...doing...this…?" I manage to ask. His glare hardens, trying to hide the tears in his eyes. "YOU KILLED HER DIDN'T YOU!" He screams at me. My vision starts to blur at the edges. "I'm...right...here...Cato...can't...you...see...m e…." I trail off as his grip tightens again, sending more pain through my body. He shakes his head. "LIKE I WOULD BELIEVE YOU!" he shouts.

The world starts getting blacker and blacker. I nod in and out of conciousness as my lungs start giving out. My mind gets fuzzy. Need...oxygen...fast…

The last thing I see is hate in Cato's eyes before I black out.

**Thanks for reading this chapter! I'll update soon! See you next chapter!**


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